Electrolytic diaphragm.



No. SSL-Ni PATENTEE SEPT, i8? 1966i il. RGEETS, l ,-ELGTRLYTG IPHRAGM APPLIGAEQW FILED DEG. 23, 1904. REXEWED AUG. 27, 1900.

K u kijf/@Lag ya 3o. provide a diaphram in which at least one of needed for a given p interna sTATEs PATENT orrion.

ne. sahara.

specification of Letters Patent. j

Hr., A CortroRATioN or I Awami@ and December 23.1904.l Remoting@ 27,1905. seau No. 332,099.

To ZLwh/om t `may concern:

YBeitkncwn that I, IsArAn L. ROBERTS, aeitizen of the United States, residing at New ork, in the county of Kings and State of New York,`have invented certain .new and useful. improvements in Electrolytic Diaphragms, of which the following is a speciii- Gatien, reference being had to the drawings vaccompanying and forming part of the same.

in several prior patents, particularly Nos. l 522,614, 1 522,616, 522,617, and 522,618, l" have described. electrolytic dia-v phragms which are of such Anature as to allow electrolytic action to take place through the same, but at the sametimc reventing transfusion or physical comming ing ofthe liquids which are separated by the diaphragm or at 4most permitting such transfusion only to a practically negligible degree. The materialsv employed in the diaphragms are largely plastic, and therefore have to be confined in the form desired by a suitable holder. The latter is usually made of cloth, which is in turn sup orted by4 a sth? framework of a suitable kin such as a basket of wire-gauze. It is to the 'improvement of diaphragrns of this general t e, vwhich possess great utility in varijous e ectrolytic carts, that the present invention is directed; l

One of the objects of my invention is to the supporting fabrics' or faces shall possess to a degree at east the roperties ofthe plastieLrnaterial-#that is a lowing electrolysis to take lplace therethrough, but at the same time preventingtransusion during the passage of the current-thereby making the sup-v port of, the plastic material actually a art of the effective se arating medium.v 'ess of the Vplastic or ge atinous material is therefore ose or, stated otherl Wise,the eiiectiveness'o agiven dia hragm is increased by this cbnst'ruction.

It 1s also desirable that the surface of the diaphragm be straight and smooth, free from Wrinklin or bulging. This is a condition whichlit is ifhcuit if not practically impossible to secure where'ilexible supports, such as sheets of ci'ith, are used, an 'itis therefore a further object ofmy invention't'o provide a support :which shall be at least suiciently' ri 'd to prevent stretching, bulging, or other 'sto1' tion. The support should ,also be indestrucof cloth or other organic materia Patented sept; 1s, 190e.

i.. ROBERTS, or NEW' YORK, N. Y., AssieNoR fro` aoisnirrsv ennuient. COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N.

etienthe liquids wat which it Comes in .1. contact; acharacteristic which it is imposyf5 5 sible to secure completely with supports made A further object of my invention isthere# fore to provide a su port which will 'be practically unaffected by the electrolytic liquids, particularly on thel anode side vof the diaphragrn', and therefore have longer liiethanl the diaphragme previously usedv The material which has been found to bestmeet these 'Y various requirements is a composition of as@ bestos vand magnesium silicate., Suchfcoml,

ositions are common in the market, knownas trans1te, "magnesia building lumber,

ytici., and their manufacture therefore'need. Sucli'niaterial, of.

not be described in detail.

the desired thickness, ossesses the necessary degree of porosity, is eXible enough'to bend Without fracture, and is but slightly affected by the original liquids of the bath or by those resulting' from the electrolysis.

Another object of my invention is to pro-- vide an electrolytic cell vorapparatus of novel form wherein the properties of the .diaphragm described may be effectively utilized.

To these and other ends the invention consists of the novel features, arrangements of parts, and combinations of elements hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

rReferring'now. to the drawings, "Figure 1 shows in vertical section. av cylindrical cell embodying my improvements, and Fig.- 2'1s'a horizontal section of a rectangular structure -containing a number of cells .with a vcommon l diaphragm. In the cell shown in Fig. 1, 1 is a cup or bas- ,ket of wiregauze strengthened at top and bottom by metal rings 2 3. Inside of the basket is a cloth bag or lining 4, within which is a layer .of the plastic or gelatinous material 5.

'In setting up the cell l prefer to place first on the bottom of the cloth-lined basket a layer of the plastic material, as 6, then on this. a disk 7 of the asbestos-magnesia composition. The disk is pressed down upon the' viscous material'until the two are in close contact,

leavin the gelatinous or viscous layer of the v desire thickness, generally equal to or slightly greater than the space which separates the edge of the disk from the sidesof the bag. On the disk is now .placed a cyl1n loI v,the diaphragm-cup, as indicat'ed'at 10. asbestos-magnesia cup may be made in one liece'if desired; but

der or tube 8, made of the compositiongthe 'f diameter of which is about thesame as'.t hat ofthe disk, preferably slightly smaller. The` space between the cylinder and the bag is noW evenly packed with the plasticmaterial, as

shown. p The diaphragm is then. complete and A ready for use.

ln Fig. 1 it is shown suspended. in an ironvessel or tank 9, which constitutes the cathode, the anode being located inside The l the disk andY cylinder construction described is cheaper land more 'y convenient in some respects; ,y

the diap ragni in the form of a flat plate "magnesia'composition is indicated by 12.

Spaced apart therefrom by strips 13k is a sheet of cloth 14, the space thus lett beii'ig' packed with the plastic non-porous material 15:,11By

'means of tie-bolts 16, passing throughl the ends of the side Walls 17, the parts maybe brought as iirmly together as desired, as ivill The anodes. are` inbe readily understood.

dicated by 18 and the cathodesby 19.

this form it lwill be seen that no Wire support.,

for the cloth side of the diaphragm is necessary.

It is obvious that in both .the iornis illus.-

trated the cathode side of the' diaphragm may also be formed of the asbestos-magnesia i i 4 esmas bev-found necessary.

The speciiic forms herein described are of course only typical of my invention, Which may be variously einbodied Without departure from its proper scope. It will also lbe understood lthat Where l have used the terni rigid body l do not mean that the same must be absolutely inflexible, but merely that it should be at least Ystiff enough to ordinary usage Without distortion.

The term nonporous7 used to describe the plastic or other material onithe rigidv body is not to be understood to mean that the material referred to must necessarily bev totally impervious, but rather that it maypermit substantially no transfusion or physical commingling oi the liquids separated-by the diaphragm.

i. An electrolytic diaphragm comprising a 'rigid body'of porous material, alla er of nonporous material thereon, and affa` non-porous inaterialto retain the same on the rigid body, as set forth,

`porous material thereon, a

i' crous material to retain theV same on the rigid'.

ody, and a reticulated supportfor thekiabri'c,

as set forth. Y isiinin- L. Renners, '.Witness-es: y' a v`M. LAWSON Dnc-R., 1

S. DUNHAM. l

stand its ""compositiong but in most vcases this will 'not ric on the An electrolytic diaphragm comprising a@ 1": 

